Begging For Dollars

[The Voice of Reason]

Time to get out the tin cups and violins because Rochester's public radio stations are on the airwaves again crying poverty. I wonder if the fund raising goal is more than the last pledge drive because the price of gasoline has gone up and someone has to pick up the tab for the two station-owned vehicles driven by the CEO and Senior Vice President, plus pay for their six-figure salaries.

 

[dampier]

As I've said a few times before, I no longer contribute to public radio locally because I disagree with the priorities and spending practices of the station management, although I have considerable respect for the on-air personalities, news department, and other staffers who work to put the programs on the air. I make an annual contribution to Wyoming Public Radio instead, because I feel my contribution will be put to better work there than it would be here. Others could consider donations to Alaska Public Radio, or any of the public radio stations which serve the underserved in this country, such as the Native American community. Alternatively, there are other non-commercial local stations which are serving our community which rely on contributions from the public which deserve your attention as well.

Until the priorities of public radio locally to better serve the public-at-large instead of the interests of the high dollar donors, I will continue to contribute accordingly.

 

[Bob1370]

"As I've said a few times before, I no longer contribute to public radio locally because I disagree with the priorities and spending practices of the station management, although I have considerable respect for the on-air personalities, news department, and other staffers who work to put the programs on the air."

If enough folks take the same stance, the programs and people you say you respect go away, and you're left with what Clear Channel and Entercom choose to feed you. Is that a bargain you're willing to make?

 

[Ed Trefzger]

It's not an either/or proposition. I have a real problem with the way many public broadcasters spend money. In Rochester, WXXI's chief executive is compensated individually more than DOUBLE the ENTIRE budget of WGMC, including the payroll for more than 3 full-time equivalent employees.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

With all due respect to Mr. Smith, it would take three radio drives, with a goal of $100,000 each drive, and the station still would not have raised enough money to pay one top executive. Granted WXXI also has television fundraising drives and underwriting, but looking over the station's 990 tax report, it is hard for me donate to a so-called non-profit agency that pays their Chief Executive such a huge six-figure salary while this same person goes on the air pleading poverty. If you add up the salary of this one individual over the years he's been employed at WXXI his raises and perks are enormous. And I left out the other top paid executives, one of them besides the CEO, who also gets a free station vehicle to drive.

 

[Element9]

Do we not visit and re-visit this issue, seemingly quarterly or bi-annually, on this board?

My contention is, if you don't want to contribute, by all means, do not. As to the six figure salaries, I too am nettled by them. However, it's apparent some body and some bodies believe these CEO's are worth their compensation. It could be a genuinely accurate assessment of their worth made by an impartial body or it could be the board of directors is stacked in favor of the CEO.

My question is, why not contribute to the organization in question? Become a member of the organization and become an activist and gadfly at every board meeting. It's very much like being a shareholder within a corporation (let's say, Entercom) and attending the annual shareholders' meetings. Have your name placed on the meeting's agenda and make your case, in parliamentary fashion, in concert with the other shareholders who may share your views.

You may be able to effect change and influence by working moreso from the inside than from the outside. A person I know once bought ten shares of stock in a company, went to the shareholders' meeting and made his case. At the meeting, there were other individuals, some who held considerable blocks of shares, who were suitably impressed by the person's concerns and knowledge of the issues to carry the fight to a higher level.

By the way, a few years later, the CEO of the company and at least half the board of directors were replaced by better qualified individuals and incentive-based salaries that improved the company's profits and performance, while becoming a socially and ethically improved corporation. That one individual played an integral role in the changes which improved the company.

-9-

 

[Mike Sheridan]

My question is, why not contribute to the organization in question? Become a member of the organization and become an activist and gadfly at every board meeting. It's very much like being a shareholder within a corporation (let's say, Entercom) and attending the annual shareholders' meetings. Have your name placed on the meeting's agenda and make your case, in parliamentary fashion, in concert with the other shareholders who may share your views.

-9-

Now that makes the most sense of anything I have seen here.

Stuck with only Entercom and Clear Channel? Shudder, I'd probably sell all my radios.

MM

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Please understand I am not on a one person crusade against public radio or WXXI. I enjoy NPR programming and also believe that WXXI does a great job of providing local news and information to the Rochester community. However I think it is a sham for people to get on the airwaves and tell an uninformed listening public that without their support certain programs are in jeopardy when this same broadcasting operation can afford huge salaries for few top executives. Don’t get me wrong I don’t have a problem with people making a decent living, but I sincerely believe it is hypocritical to solicit money under the guise that it goes to support programming when you have a non profit organization that can afford to pay a few people close to a half-million dollars a year in salaries. If you look at WXXI’s 990 tax forms you will see for yourselves that operation has numerous vice-presidents making $70,000 a year along with a CEO pulling down over 300 grand. You can’t tell me that you need that many top managers to run that operation.

 

[SpareChange]

I too, appreciate NPR, PBS and the programming which these entities provide. Much as I appreciate and value it, I do not appreciate being cajoled, cowed and held up for ransom for my contribution. WBFO and WNED-AM, Buffalo do a good job of "pleading their cases" without resorting to threats (e.g., "if we don't get the money today, this program will be gone by next Tuesday..." albeit an exagerated example.) However, WNED-TV is another story. Goodlawdamighty do they appear unctuous! It can be especially galling to discover these not for profit TV princesses and princes take big vacations, get paid a handsome salary and get superlative benefits from their benefactors. The men and women toiling in the radio trenches could serve as a good example of how to make a case for pledges and memberships on TV with purpose and a refined sense of urgency. And yes, it would be helpful if more viewers and contributors were duly informed (as in full public disclosure by use of the same medium) that the CEO's and upper management were (extremely) well-compensated and not destined for potters row.

 

[dampier]

If enough folks take the same stance, the programs and people you say you respect go away, and you're left with what Clear Channel and Entercom choose to feed you. Is that a bargain you're willing to make?

That assumes I listen to either, and frankly I don't. Your local programs are one of the few redeeming things about WXXI and I have only the highest respect for you and your work. But I cannot in good conscience make a contribution to a station which spends their money in a way I simply cannot accept. If enough people do as I do, and make it clear why, perhaps the BoD would see fit to mandate some changes that would truly put the "public" back in public broadcasting.

 

[Radknowski]

I'd only ask whether listeners prefer pledge weeks two to four times per year on their favorite NPR stations, or eight to nine minute commercial breaks twice per hour on ther favorite commercial stations? There's a price to be paid for everything, including Sirius and XM. Nothing's free. Which leads me to a tangental topic, Free FM and Opie & Anthony. This is where I should get off and start a new thread, I suspect.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

I'd only ask whether listeners prefer pledge weeks two to four times per year on their favorite NPR stations, or eight to nine minute commercial breaks twice per hour on ther favorite commercial stations? There's a price to be paid for everything, including Sirius and XM. Nothing's free. Which leads me to a tangental topic, Free FM and Opie & Anthony. This is where I should get off and start a new thread, I suspect.

The big difference here Mike is that when people sign up for satellite radio, they know what they are getting. On commercial radio one can expect them to sell everything from soap to cars. But the point I am making is that non profit stations, and not all of them, use the same old tired trick of pleading poverty to entice people to donate with the believe the station is in financial trouble or needs the money to pay for programming, when instead a good chuck of that donation goes towards inflated salaries for a few top managers. I was listening the other day to WXXI and heard that their goal is 1,000 new listeners and that they haven't reached half of that goal yet; and with one day left in the drive it's doubtful they will. So maybe the listening public is catching on.

 

[jim8230]

I really can't understand why this topic comes up every time a public station in either Rochester or Buffalo runs a fund drive. I would think that most people posting on this board are connected to radio in some way....so it should be obvious that public stations are forced to appeal to the audience for the majority of their operating dollars by asking them to do so on air. Despite what our CEO takes home weekly, it doesn't change the nature of the business.

As someone that advocates on behalf of WNED AM and FM, I can tell you that we don't ever "plead poverty". We simply remind our listeners that we must rely upon them to come forward and participate. There is no way around on-air fundraising. However, I must point out it happens only three times a year (at most) for no more than 30 days total. (This can't be that awful.) As far as "knowing what you are getting", if you listen to public radio you know what you are getting. It is no different than knowing what you are getting on commercial stations or satellite.

The fact that we sometimes speak of programs going away is because if there is no obvious support, we have to consider if the show is worth paying for. (Yes, we PAY for our programs and some of the fees are quite expensive!) This is much like not selling time for a show on commercial radio......the show goes!

C'mon guys.....

 

[The Voice of Reason]

I really can't understand why this topic comes up every time a public station in either Rochester or Buffalo runs a fund drive. I would think that most people posting on this board are connected to radio in some way....so it should be obvious that public stations are forced to appeal to the audience for the majority of their operating dollars by asking them to do so on air. Despite what our CEO takes home weekly, it doesn't change the nature of the business.

As someone that advocates on behalf of WNED AM and FM, I can tell you that we don't ever "plead poverty". We simply remind our listeners that we must rely upon them to come forward and participate. There is no way around on-air fundraising. However, I must point out it happens only three times a year (at most) for no more than 30 days total. (This can't be that awful.) As far as "knowing what you are getting", if you listen to public radio you know what you are getting. It is no different than knowing what you are getting on commercial stations or satellite.

The fact that we sometimes speak of programs going away is because if there is no obvious support, we have to consider if the show is worth paying for. (Yes, we PAY for our programs and some of the fees are quite expensive!) This is much like not selling time for a show on commercial radio......the show goes!

C'mon guys.....

We understand the need to ask the public for money, but the point being made here is the misrepresentation by some public stations for trying to convince the listening public that certain NPR or PBS shows are in peril unless people donate money. Granted public dollars do pay for these very expensive shows, but again I stress the point that if these stations want to save money start by cutting the over bloated salaries and perks paid to a few executives. Here in Rochester the print media won't do a story about the salaries paid to the top five executives at that station because one of Gannett's top executives is also Chairman of the Board at WXXI.
Now this newspaper(rightfully so) printed a recent article about how a former head of the Monroe County Water Authority received an inflated salary in order to boost his retirement. Yet this same paper has refused, on a number of occasions, to print letters to the editor questioning the six figure salaries made by two top executives at a station that depends on public donations and tax dollars. Why is that?

 

[raymond_shaw]

Another point I've made before: why do public stations have this need for these big privately owned buildings? Has WNED ever found enough tenants for full occupancy at Mike Collin's palace? Why does WROC continue to operate out of their dilapidated Humboldt studios and WXXI has to have nothing but the best? WNED & WXXI could operate with a small staff of just the most needed employees(such as news people, on-air people, engineers and a skeleton staff of office employees and they could operate out of old warehouses or buildings and the public could not tell the difference in quality.

VOR - I agree with everything you say, but I have one thing to say about your postings about WXXI on this board. Nobody here but us radio geeks. The general public that gets bilked into supporting those extravagant salaries and studios don't know the real story. They apparently really believe their mostly supporting their favorite shows. You might want to post on some local non broadcasting sites. Check out www.rochesterturning.com - stories accepted plus links to other local sites.

 

[alw]

WNED ever found enough tenants for full occupancy at Mike Collin's palace?

I'm here to tell you that the "Taj Mahal" on Lower Terrace is jam packed full with little space left for storage, and cubicles on top of each other.

 

[raymond_shaw]

I'm here to tell you that the "Taj Mahal" on Lower Terrace is jam packed full with little space left for storage, and cubicles on top of each other.

and WROC, Channel 8 still carries on somehow in their old facilities on Humboldt Street here in Rochester. Is Big Public Media familiar with the word "austere."

BTW, do you all know that public broadcasting lobbied against LPFM, just like for-profit radio. They are concerned with their own self interests, not the community they claim to serve.

 

[Radknowski]

WROC, Channel 8 still carries on somehow in their old facilities on Humboldt Street here in Rochester. Is Big Public Media familiar with the word "austere."

If Channel 8 carries on in their ramshackle facilities, that's their business, and frankly, it's shameful; the few times I've seen Channel 8 News, it could be that a better facility might help improve their on-air product!

Why should public radio be required to work in sub-par facilities? It seems silly to demand that public TV and radio should still be doing their jobs from Barton Street, North Street or the top floor of the lovely Hotel Lafayette. Say what you will about Collins, at least he had the foresight to get his employees into a better facility, one they likely deserved.

BTW, do you all know that public broadcasting lobbied against LPFM, just like for-profit radio.

This is true, but let let's shed a different light on this particular issue. A very good friend who is a broadcast engineer once told me that many public stations and NPR lobied against LPFM primarily because they were concerned that their existing signals would be encroached upon not by local LPFM operators, but by the over zealous and abundant religious broadcasters who have co-opted the letter and spirit of the rules of the FCC, which allocated frequencies below 91.9 for use by public, not for profit, educational and community agencies, not necessarily for "pray for pay" outfits like Family Life.

Don't you think public radio has as much right to defend its "turf" as the Clear Channel, Entercom, Citadel, Cox and CBS boys have a right to defend theirs?

 

[SirRoxalot]

Fair Compensation

I'm curious to know just what some of you consider fair compensation for managing and fund raising for multiple TV and radio stations in a market. In Rochester, the head of public broadcasting is responsible for the analog and HD over-the-air stations, and a cable station. Add to that WXXI-AM, WXXI-FM, and a large portion of the programming for WRUR, and you have a multi-station, multi-million dollar corporation that you're responsible for. Just how much compensation is reasonable?

If you make $50K per year, do you realize that the complete cost to your employer is in the vicinity of $75K by the time that you include Social Security, Workman's Comp, and the rest of the mandated benefits that your employer MUST pay? And, we're not including health insurance, which would add significantly to that number. When you look at the budget, take that into consideration.

The 300K number that's been bandied about included a one-time payment because of changes in the way benefits are taxed. So, what should a PBS/NPR executive make?

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Re: Fair Compensation

I'm curious to know just what some of you consider fair compensation for managing and fund raising for multiple TV and radio stations in a market. In Rochester, the head of public broadcasting is responsible for the analog and HD over-the-air stations, and a cable station. Add to that WXXI-AM, WXXI-FM, and a large portion of the programming for WRUR, and you have a multi-station, multi-million dollar corporation that you're responsible for. Just how much compensation is reasonable?

If you make $50K per year, do you realize that the complete cost to your employer is in the vicinity of $75K by the time that you include Social Security, Workman's Comp, and the rest of the mandated benefits that your employer MUST pay? And, we're not including health insurance, which would add significantly to that number. When you look at the budget, take that into consideration.

The 300K number that's been bandied about included a one-time payment because of changes in the way benefits are taxed. So, what should a PBS/NPR executive make?

Let's take your first sentence. The head of WXXI has vice presidents' responsible for HD, radio and regular TV. His main job is to raise money. Yes he has the final say over everything, but it's not like he does all the work himself. I could understand part of his compensation package including medical and retirement coverage paid for by the station but does the head of a non profit organization really need a brand new gas-guzzling SUV every two years? Second sentence: With the exception of a few top managers there are people at WXXI who have been there for years that are not even close to making 50k a year let alone over 40k. Some are making an average of 30k; and they are paying a large chunck of that for their medical and retirement benefits out of their salaries. Another thing to remember is that there have been years when employees received no raises at all or a maximum of 3% while the top dog got 7% plus a bonus. I have no problem with the brand new facilities and equipment paid for in part by Tom Golisano's money. But I do maintain that it's wrong to use the tired of chestnut during pledge drives that "Big Bird" will disappear, or Morning Edition will be gone unless people donate money. That is hogwash. WXXI recently hired a station manager for their AM operation and WRUR. So let's see they have a program director for their FM station, a station manager for their two other radio stations, so why pay a Vice President of Radio over $70 grand a year? Talk about wasting money!
All I am saying is stop crying poverty every other month when they go on the air asking for donation when the station can afford to pay several people close to a half-million dollars in salaries.